The following is published by the kind permission of Séan Moore.

Roderick Sim was born in Madras, India, in 1868. He was the youngest son of James Duncan Sim Esq., C.S.I. of Moxley, Surrey and grandson of General J. D. Sim, R.E.

His father was a civil servant in India and made a Companion of the Exalted Order of the Star of India, an order established by Queen Victoria in 1861 to reward service in India.

When old enough he was sent to England and attended Cheltenham College, where Charles Tillard, a son of the Rector of Blakeney, was a House Master. He subsequently studied at the Medical School of Middlesex Hospital. His student career was interrupted by an attack of rheumatic fever which, ultimately resulted in his early death.

In1896 he qualified and secured an appointment as a house surgeon at Cheltenham General Hospital. After five years he decided to start practice on his own account and obtained permission to work on the Riviera, in Monte Carlo. He was said to have been very popular, possessed of a quiet sense of humour and a man who invariably took a kindly view of his neighbours.

He also spent time in Blakeney, his favourite summer resort and appears to have enjoyed sailing there.

He married in 1904. There were no children.

In 1908 he died suddenly, aged forty, in Eastbourne, having exerted himself unduly in starting a motorcar.

Blakeney residents sent a large floral tribute, in the shape of an anchor, to his funeral. The white posts either side of Blakeney cut, a few yards north of the quay, are dedicated to him. There is a plaque on the western post inscribed with the words, “In memory of Dr. Roderick Sim”.

I am indebted to Pamela Peake of the Blakeney Area Historical Society and the British Medical Journal for the above information.

Séan Moore
Commodore Blakeney Sailing Club 2019

Update: In October 2020 The Sims Posts were replaced.